Automatic pneumatic musical instrument.



R. J. BENNETT.

AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY3,1910. 1,107 573 Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

R. J. BENNETT.

AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLIOATION TILED MAY 3, 1910.

1,107,573, Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT J. BENNETT, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ARTISTA PIANO PLAYER COMPANY, OF MILAN, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC MUSICAL DN'STRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

Application filed May 3, 1910. Serial No. 559,181.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT J. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moline, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Pneumatic Musical Instruments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

The invention relates to that class of automatic pneumatic musical instruments in which the piano action or other part of any other musical instrument to be operated receives action from what is known in the art as a power pneumatic under the control of a music sheet or record determining at what period the power pneumatic becomes efi'ective, and the invention has for one of its objects to provide an improved and simplified form of power pneumatic capable of being readily adjusted and applied to the action of a musical instrument.

Another object of the invention is to so form and arrange the power pneumatics that they may be located comparatively close together and access may be had through the pneumatics of the upper tier to the adjusting devices of those of the lower tier without removing the pneumatics of either tier from their supports.

A further object of the invention is to provide a compound lever action for the pneumatic in which the friction of the engaging members of such lever action shall be reduced to the minimum.

With these ends in view the invention consists in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearing are attained, an example of the invention being first described with reference to the accompanying drawing and the invention being then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawingsFigure 1 is a vertical cross section of the wind chests of the upper and lower tiers of pneumatics showing the pneumatics applied to an ordinary piano action as an example of a musical instrument to be operated thereby. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the pneumatics and Wind chests. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 33 Fig. 1, the piano action being omitted. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of a bearing member hereinafter described. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a )ower pneumatic showing its relation to t e piano action embodying a certain modification hereinafter described; and Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively sections on the line 6-6 and 77 of Fig. 5.

1 and 2 are the wind chests for the upper and lower tiers or banks of power pneumatics 3 and 4 respectively. In ordinary practice in the art, it is customary to employ one tier or bank of these pneumatics for actuating one set of stickers, or piano actions, and the other tier or bank for actuating another set. In the drawings, two of the stickers 5 that are actuated by the upper tier are illustrated, while but one of the stickers 6 that are actuated by the lower tier or bank is shown, and although the invention is illustrated in connection with two banks or tiers of pneumatics and the stickers of an ordinary piano action, it will nevertheless be understood that it is not confined in its broadest aspect to these details, nor to a plurality of pneumatics.

The pneumatics 3 and 4 are each preferably constituted of a bellows comprising an upper fixed member 7 and a lower movable member 8, the upper member being rigidly supported in any suitable way, as by attachment to its wind chest, while the lower member is free to move relatively thereto as the pneumatic expands and collapses under the control of a primary pneumatic 9 connected thereto and to the wind chest in the usual or any suitable way, or by any other suitable means.

10 is a lever associated with each of the pneumatics. One end of this lever is arranged to engage the sticker of the piano action disposed opposite thereto, and for that purpose the sticker is provided with a suitable lug 11 under which the lever engages. One end of the lever is provided with a suitable pivotal support whereby the lever is supported independently of the movable member 8 of the pneumatic, which latter being pivoted at one end also constitutes a lever and carries a bearing or contact member arranged to engage with the lever 10, or a part carried thereby. The pivot 12 of the lever 10 may be conveniently supported upon the wind chest, and to that end the wind chest is provided with a flange or projection 13,in which is stepped a standard 14 carrying the pivot 12. This standard is preferably cylindrical so as to be rotatable, or the lever 10 may be otherwise made adjustable laterally so that in assembling 'the mechanism its end may be situated accurately under the lug 11 notwithstanding variations that are liable to occur in the positions of these lugs with relation to the length of the wind chest or the points thereon where the standards 14 are mounted. When the standard is thus rotatably stepped in cylindrical sockets in the flange 13, the lever 10 may be adjusted laterally to the proper position with reference to the lug 11, and the glue or cement which has been previously introduced in the socket of the standard 14 then allowed to set. The bear ing or contact member carried by the member 8, may be constituted by a yoke 15 extending across the upper member 7 and having its extremities bent downwardly and secured to the member 8 by screws 16 or other suitable means, the upper portion. of the yoke being arranged to engage the lever 10 by any suitable means, but preferably by means of an adjustable member or contact bearing 17 secured to the end of an adjusting screw 18 screwthreaded in the lever 10, so that the lever 10 may be adjusted vertically with relation to the fulcrum yoke 15, and thereby brought into proper relation with the lug 11. 'By thus lowering the point of engagement between the two levers 8 and. 10 and properly proportioning the dis tance between this point and their pivotal points, itwill be seen that as the lever or member 8 rises, causing its yoke 15 to strike an arc toward the left as viewed in Fig. 1, the bearing 17 will also strike an arc toward the left, and of substantially the same radius, and consequently, these members 15, 17 while remaining in contact during their movement and moving on different centers, will not move relatively any appreciable degree, and consequently, the friction and loss of power that would result from such rela tive movement are eliminated. As the op posed faces of the yoke 15 and bearing 17 necessarily rock with relation to one another, it is desirable to provide one of these, and preferably the yoke 15, with an attenu ated bearing portion 15 which may be formed by producing a ridge on the yoke, and in order that the member 17 may find a bearing upon this ridge throughout the lateral adjustment of the lever 10, the ridge is considerably elongated, as indicated in Figs. 2, 3 and a, in a direction crosswise of the lever 10.

Among the advantages of this construction and arrangement is the ability to place the lower tier or bank of pneulnatics 4 considerably closer to the instrument keys 20, or lower down with relation to the stickers 5, 6, and to also place the two tiers of pneumatics closer together without interfering with their operation and without cutting off access to the adjusting screws 18 of the lower bank, which access may be had between the pneumatics of the upper tier whose inner ends are tapered, as shown in Fig. 2, to leave sufficient space between them for the intro duction of a wrench or other instrui'nent to the screw 18 below, while the outer ends of the pneumatics are disposed comparatively close together in compact arrangement, as heretofore.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the pneumatic of the lower bank or tier alone is illustrated and is shown in association with a different form of connection between the pneumatic and the sticker, whereby the connection may be adjusted laterally, notwithstanding variations in the position of the sticker with relation to the pneumatic. In this form the movable member of the pneumatic is provided with a spring 25 which, as appears in plan view Fig. 6, is widened at its end and engages under the end of an arm which is pivoted on a vertical axis by means of a screw 21 to a suitable bracket 22 secured to the sticker, the pivot 21 permitting the arm 2-1- to be shifted laterally with relation to the spring 25. The spring 25 is supported by a nut 26 on a screw 27 carried by the pneumatic.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for the purpose de scribed, the combination of a power pneumatic comprising an upper fixed member a device to be actuated and a lower movable member, a pivoted lever supported at one end independently of and above said moiable member, said lever being separate from and independent of said device, the other end of the lever having separable engagement with a portion of the device to be actu ated for imparting movement to the said device, a bearing member carried by the movable member and an adjustable bearing carried by said lever intermediate its ends and engaging said bearing member.

2. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination witii the keys of the instrument and the elements of the instrument action to be actuated by said keys, of a wind chest arranged across the keys over the same, a power pneumatic sup ported between the wind chest and the keys, a lever supported independently of the movable member of the power pneumatic, above the power pneumatic at the back of the wind chest in position to engage the said action of the instrument, and means for imparting oscillation to said lever from the movable member of the power pneumatic.

3. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic having a hinged movable member, a lever supported independently of said movable member, and means giving said movable member a laterally extended bearing a ainst said lever, said bearing being situate at a point between the pivotal points of said movable member and lever.

4. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic embodying a hinged movable member, a pivoted lever supported independently of said movable member and having a bearing, and a second bearing carried by said member at a point intermediate the pivotal point of said lever and member and engaging said first bearing, one of said bearings being laterally extended beyond the other.

5. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic embodying a movable hinged member, a lever supported independently of said movable member in a substantially horizontal position, a bearing carried by said lever at a point below the level of its center of oscillation, and a second bearing carried by said movable member and engaging said first bearing at a point between the centers of oscillation of said lever and hinged member, one of said bearings being extended laterally beyond the other.

6. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic embodying a hinged movable member, an oscillatory lever supported independently of said member in a substantially horizontal position, a bearing adjustably depending from said lever below the level of its center of oscillation, and a second bearing carried by said member and engaging said first bearing at apoint between the centers of oscillation of the lever and said member, one of said bearings being extended laterally beyond the other.

7 In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic embodying a hinged movable member, an oscillatory lever supported independently of said member above the pneumatic, and an element forming a bearing carried by said hinged member and projecting above the pneumatic for imparting motion to the lever at a point between the pneumatic and the lever.

8. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic embodying a hinged movable member, a lever supported above the pneumatic independently thereof, a yoke carried by the movable member and projecting above the pneumatic and between the latter and the lever and being provided with an attenuated contact element for imparting motion to the lever.

9. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic embodying a hinged movable member, a lever supported above the pneumatic independently thereof, a yoke secured to the movable member and projecting above the pneumatic and having an attenuated bearing forming element arranged between the pneumatic and the lever, and an adjustable bearing depending from the lever and engaging said bearing element.

10. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of a power pneumatic having a hinged movable member, a laterally adjustable pivoted lever supported above the pneumatic independently of said member, a bearing forming element carried by the movable member at a point above the pneumatic and being elongated transversely of said lever and a bearing member carried by the lever ior the engagement of said bearing element.

11. In an apparatus for the purpose described, the combination of two banks or horizontal series of power pneumatics arranged one above the other with the pneumatics of the lower bank disposed in vertical planes falling between the pneumatics of the upper bank, each of said pneumatics embodying fixed and hinged members and said members of the upper bank being tapered at their hinged ends to form spaces between them, pivoted levers arranged over each pneumatic of the lower bank, means giving said levers operative relation respectively to the movable members of the lower bank of pneumatics, embodying an adjusting device and said adjusting devices being situated directly under the said spaces between the tapered ends of the pneumatics of the upper bank.

12. The combination of a pneumatic having a fixed and a movable member, a yoke secured and movable with said moving member and having an elongated bead formed thereon to serve as a bearing portion, a lever pivoted at one end above said pneumatic, a device to be actuated, engaged b the other end of said lever, and an adjusta le bearing carried by said lever intermediate its ends and adapted to bear upon the elongated bead of said yoke.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two, subscribing witnesses, on this 18th day of April A. D. 1910.

ROBERT J. BENNETT.

Witnesses:

M. W. CANTWELL, FRANCIS A. HOPKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for the cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. 0.

"Commissioner oi Patents, 

